


at ease in the arms of a woman

by hummingbirdswords



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 15:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14287518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hummingbirdswords/pseuds/hummingbirdswords
Summary: When waking up feels as though it's a dream, when your eyes open to find the person you've spent so long loving in the secret places they couldn't see, that is when it is time to hold on tight.or, the one where Emma and Regina cuddle for the first time





	at ease in the arms of a woman

**Author's Note:**

> fic title comes from the song Arms of a Woman by Amos Lee

When waking up feels as though it’s a dream, when your eyes open to find the person you’ve spent so long loving in the secret places they couldn’t see, that is when it is time to hold on tight.

 

There’s a tender ache in the first few seconds before everything starts weaving together and making sense to Emma’s sleep-slow brain. There’s a heavy weight in her chest when she blinks sleepily, her vision cloudy and possibly playing tricks on her. She sees beside her a mess of dark brown hair that spreads out across a shoulder with a delicate curve, skin that looks smooth and golden as the sun’s beams start to shine through the parted curtains. She blinks tiredly and sees the curve of a cheek, soft in the morning light, and the dip of a lower lip that’s too familiar not to make Emma internally freak out for that quick moment where she knows not how she wound up in bed beside the very woman she’s been working so hard not to imagine herself with.

 

In those seconds where Emma is still heavy with sleep, there is an ache that could grow and hurt so excruciatingly that she’ll feel it all day—she knows this as fact, for she has felt this ache before when waking up to what had only been a trick of her mind, a vision of something she desired but would never have. But the ache does not grow this morning as her vision clears, because the woman beside her is not something she’s imagining as she slowly wakes, is not going to fade and leave Emma wanting for the real deal, craving the nearness of a woman she can only have in her dreams. The ache fades as a warmth grows and her hand reaches out, cautious and slow, but desperate for a feel of skin, flesh, something to convince the last part of her mind that isn’t sure whether to believe what the rest of her knows is true.

 

Emma holds her breath as she touches two of her fingers to Regina’s arm, presses them to her shoulder and then runs them down towards her elbow with a featherlight touch. That breath she held rushes out, though, like air leaving a balloon when Regina makes a small noise in her sleep and Emma worries she might have woken her up. But she doesn’t wake. Regina, fire and bite and dangerous eyes that can make grown men tremble, untucks her arm from under her pillow and searches for something— _someone_ —and wraps around a very still Emma, snuggling closer in her sleep.

 

The nearness somehow feels right, feels like something that they’ve worked for and earned and deserve—it feels like warm comfort that Emma can’t help sinking into as she relaxes and closes her eyes, finding it easier to process when she isn’t overwhelmed by her surroundings. And it is then that it starts coming to her, the night before, dinner and wine and ending up in bed with Regina Mills.

 

She remembers Regina calling to inform her that Zelena and Robyn wouldn’t be home, and she remembers asking if that meant she was going to miss out on dinner because she’d been looking forward to Regina’s stew all week.

 

She remembers laughing over dinner as they sat in the kitchen, locking gazes over wine glasses and sharing smiles that were more flirtatious than they were friendly—and she remembers how nervous she had been because of it, how she hadn’t been able to keep her attraction hidden beneath the many layers she normally did because Regina was making it impossible to do so.

 

She remembers Regina asking her to stay when she said she should probably go, warm brown eyes uncertain for a moment as the words hung in the air and Regina’s arm wrapped around herself—and she remembers how her heart had suddenly felt weighed down, heavy and too full, but her smile had slowly grown as she put her jacket down and agreed.

 

She remembers Regina’s arm touching hers as they watched a movie together, and she remembers the way her stomach flipped and flopped when she reached for Regina’s hand without taking her eyes from the screen, held it in her own with her breath caught in her throat until Regina slowly shifted and leaned her head down on Emma’s shoulder.

 

She remembers Regina trying to fight sleep and doing the same because she didn’t want the night to end, didn’t want whatever it was they were doing to stop.

 

She remembers the awkwardness, the words that came out as jumbled sounds that made no sense, and Regina’s smirk that only lasted a few seconds before she was showing signs of nervousness as well, glancing towards the stairs and the front door like she didn’t know what to do next.

 

Regina’s leg brushes against her and Emma moves closer, ignoring the voice inside her head that tells her to get up and run, to leave before everything comes crashing down and shatters and ruins. She ignores it because she remembers; she remembers how she had ended up sleeping beside Regina in her bed.

 

_Regina cleared her throat and glanced toward the front door, a touch of sadness swirling into her eyes. It was in that moment that Emma really noticed how much joy had been there before, how Regina’s eyes had been full of happiness and mirth and warmth all throughout the night. The pain that flashed in her eyes, even if only for a second or two, hurt all the more because of how obvious it was that Regina had been in a good mood only moments ago._

 

_“You know, if you don’t want it to, the night doesn’t have to end yet,” Emma suggested. Her hands slipped into her jean pockets as she also looked over to the foyer. “I mean, I could stay longer—if you wanted me to.”_

 

_Regina’s eyebrow arched slowly, her posture straightening a little as she eyed Emma like she was something complex Regina couldn’t make sense of. “What are you suggesting, Emma?” she asked after staring the blonde down, a hint of a warning in her voice._

 

_Emma swallowed slowly and then licked her lips. “Just that I don’t have anywhere to go, so I’m not really in any rush to leave. I could stay longer. We could, I don’t know...” Her shoulders shrugged as she trailed off._

 

_Regina’s eyes narrowed slightly; her explanation was apparently as unclear as her suggestion. “We could ‘you don’t know’?”_

 

_Emma nodded with an unsure expression on her face._

 

_Regina crossed her arms over her and shook her head. “It’s past midnight. Perhaps you really should head home now,” she said regretfully._

 

_“Right,” Emma said with disappointment she didn’t try hiding. “Let me just grab my stuff and I’ll be out of your hair.”_

 

_Regina sighed as she followed Emma back into the living room where she’d left her phone and jacket the last time she went to leave. “Don’t do that,” Regina said in a voice far quieter than Emma was used to, sighing tiredly._

 

_Emma turned to look at her, jacket bunched in her fist. “Do what? Get upset?”_

 

_“No, act as though I find you being here a burden when I clearly don’t. I have thoroughly enjoyed our night together, and if you truly know me as well as you continuously claim you do, you should know that.”_

 

_Emma frowned at the hurt she could hear in Regina’s voice, even as Regina tried hardening it and hiding her emotions. “Force of habit,” she explained, half-lying. It did come naturally to assume people eventually became tired of her being around, but she genuinely felt like that was the case with Regina. It was more than just a habit—it was how she felt._

 

_Regina said nothing as Emma put on her jacket and checked the time on her phone and then put it into her pocket. She said nothing as Emma looked around to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind. But when Emma started to walk past her, Regina reached out and curled her fingers around Emma’s arm and stopped her, that same unsure look in her eyes that had been there earlier in the night when she had asked Emma to stay._

 

_“Don’t,” Emma whispered pleadingly, her chest feeling tight. She could hear Regina asking her not to leave again, and she didn’t have the self-restraint it would take to say no. But she was feeling too uncertain to say yes, too unsure about what was going on between them._

 

_Regina’s hand quickly fell away. She looked confused, and she sounded so as she said, “I apologize.”_

 

_Emma shook her head. “Don’t do that either.”_

 

_Regina glared at Emma for a second before she sighed and brushed her hands down her cotton shirt. “We should do this again,” Regina suggested with a tight smile that Emma assumed was meant to distract her from the desperate want in Regina’s eyes._

 

_“We do this every Friday,” Emma responded, hovering awkwardly between the living room and the hall._

 

_“You know that isn’t what I meant.”_

 

_Emma did—but she also didn’t. She didn’t understand anything between them anymore. It was less complicated when Regina was just the woman she felt inexplicably drawn to, the woman she couldn’t stop herself from loving even though she had known nothing would come of it. It was easier before earlier, before Regina’s hand was in hers and her head was on Emma’s shoulder, the quiet and the closeness that felt natural. It was easier when Regina didn’t tell her she should go home because it was late while simultaneously looking as though it pained her to make Emma leave._

 

_“Okay,” Emma agreed with a single nod. “What should we do again, then? And for once can we just, I don’t know, talk about this without, you know, also not talking about it like we do with so many things? I’m too—”_

 

_Regina stepped forward and put her hands on both sides of Emma’s face, shutting her up immediately. Regina’s eyes were wide but full of hesitation as she searched Emma’s face, looked into her eyes and down to her lips. Emma’s heart beat so harshly that it caused a physical ache in her chest._

 

_“Why must you insist on making everything more difficult than it needs to be?” Regina asked while shaking her head and sliding her hands over Emma’s cheeks._

 

_“Me?” Emma questioned incredulously—or at least that was the way she intended for it to sound. She was pretty sure the word shook as it left her mouth, though, nervous-sounding as she fought not to melt like ice under a flame as Regina’s fingers caressed her skin._

 

_Regina looked like there was so much she wanted to say—and she often did, looked at Emma like there were secrets in Regina’s heart that she wanted Emma to have but was afraid to share. Emma swallowed audibly and took Regina’s hands from her face and held them in her own. She wanted to be trusted with those secrets. She wanted to be worthy of every bit of Regina._

 

_“What is it? I can tell you want to tell me something, Regina. Just tell me. You know I can take it, whatever it is.”_

 

_Regina made a small sound in her throat as she looked down to their hands clasped between them. “So you think. You have no idea what I wish to say to you.”_

 

_Emma shrugged. “Maybe I do.” The night had been full of signs and clues, and if Emma truly thought about it, she would realize it wasn’t the first time Regina left little cryptic messages for her to decode. “Maybe I’ve sorta known all along and I’ve just been trying to pretend I didn’t because I was scared you’d take it all back after you said it.”_

 

_Regina looked up slowly, meeting Emma’s eyes. “Take what back?”_

 

_Emma frowned and shook her head. “If it’s going to be put out there, I need you to be the one to say it. I don’t want to say the wrong thing, or—”_

 

_“I am attracted to you,” Regina said matter of factly, slowly trying to disentangle her hands from Emma’s._

 

_“Hey, no,” Emma protested, squeezing tighter. “You can’t find out if I can handle what you’ve got to say if you run away as soon as you start saying it.”_

 

_Regina scoffed. “I don’t run away,” she denied ardently._

 

_Emma raised an eyebrow and looked down at their hands with a meaningful look. “Sure felt like you were trying to.” Regina stared blankly at Emma. Emma stroked Regina’s hands with her thumbs, and then Regina sighed and let her shoulders drop. “Is that all? You’re attracted to me. Is there more to this, or...?”_

 

_“What more do I need to say?”_

 

_Emma didn’t want to push Regina to admit anything she wasn’t ready to say. No matter how badly she wished to have her doubts squashed, to have emotions and words to attach to the thing between them, she didn’t want any of it if it meant she was asking too much of Regina. If Regina was going to share what she was feeling, it had to be because it was what she wanted._

 

_So she shook her head and said, “Whatever you want.”_

 

_Regina lifted their hands up so they were at eye-level. “What is it that we’re doing? Tonight, all of it, it has been—”_

 

_“It’s been good.” Emma smiled hopefully. “Hasn’t it?”_

 

_Regina started to nod, but she stopped herself as she said, “Only if it means what I’m hoping it means.”_

 

_Emma chewed on her lip. She knew Regina didn’t allow herself to hope for much, and when she did, she didn’t vocalize that hope. Could that mean that they were on the same page? Did Regina want the same things Emma had been trying to pretend she didn't want?_

 

_Regina’s hands tried slipping away again, but Emma stopped her, squeezed them tighter in her own and stepped closer. Regina’s breath hitched when they were almost touching, and Emma’s stomach fluttered in response to the sound._

 

_“Emma,” Regina breathed out, and it wasn’t a warning like Emma thought it might be, but a plea, a soft, quiet plea._

 

_Emma let go of one of Regina’s hands to tuck a bent finger under her chin. She lifted Regina’s head up and found herself immediately being drawn in by deep eyes that held so much that Emma felt like her breath was stolen away from her as she looked back into them. A smile started to appear on Regina’s face, slow and sweet, pulling at the corners of her mouth. It was warm and honest, the kind of smile that made Emma’s heart feel full._

 

_She leaned forward, a breath away from Regina’s mouth. She had never been this close to her before, not even in the beginning when they had made a habit of entering each other’s personal space. She had never before felt the intimate brush of breath on her lips as it left Regina’s mouth softly, not like this. Her entire body felt as though it was instantly lit up merely from the nearness of Regina, electricity sparking in Emma’s veins and her mind spinning. She briefly imagined she might faint, and oh, how embarrassing that would be. She would never live that one down, she knew._

 

_Regina’s skin was smooth beneath her. She unfurled her fingers and held Regina’s face by her cheek. Regina’s eyes fell shut and her breath rushed out. Emma shivered. She had to kiss her, then. She had to._

 

_Everything inside of Emma was telling her to take the leap, go for it, that it was what they both wanted. But she still needed to be sure. Regina’s friendship meant too much to Emma for her not to make sure before taking this next step._

 

_“Please stop me if I’m somehow reading this all wrong, because I’m about to kiss you,” Emma whispered, heart racing inside her chest because she didn’t want to mess this up, not when everything with Regina was so perfect and made her all types of happy, “and I don’t wanna make this weird by thinking thammmm—”_

 

_Emma was cut off by the softest pair of lips she had ever felt, her nervous words quieted before they turned into needless babble. Regina closed the distance between them, pressing her mouth against Emma’s and curling a hand around the back of her neck to anchor herself. One second Emma was hoping and praying that she wasn’t making a fool of herself and about to ruin the best friendship she had ever had in her life, and then the next she was falling falling falling into the most majestic feeling she had ever experienced, and Regina’s mouth was attached to hers while she fell, their hands clasped together between them and holding each other._

 

_Room for uncertainties no longer existed. Regina kissed away Emma’s doubts and replaced them with the heaviness of want that poured from her lips and filled Emma’s entire body up. She squeezed her fingers around Emma’s hand. Emma squeezed back just as tightly. They stepped closer to one another, Regina’s foot on her toes and Emma’s nose bumping into Regina’s as she slid her lip over the seal of Regina’s mouth in hopes of delving deeper into the warmth and sweetness that made her buzz pleasantly._

 

_A low hum met Emma’s ears, and that was followed by the sound of Regina sighing Emma’s name softly. Her blood rushed. Her heart pounded. Emma wrapped Regina up in her arms and decided then and there that she never wanted to let her go. How could anything ever give her more pleasure than being the person who got to hold Regina in their arms? How could anything top the sensation of making Regina sigh like that?_

 

_When they stopped kissing, Regina didn’t appear to want to release Emma from her hold either. So they embraced with their heads touching but their lips only releasing warm puffs of air against the other’s face. Emma didn’t ask if Regina wanted all the same things Emma had been trying to pretend for too long she didn’t want with Regina. Regina didn’t question the significance of their kiss. Nothing was said. Nothing more was needed. And when Emma finally did move away to glance upward to the stairs, Regina smiled and took Emma’s hand into her own and led the way to the bedroom._

 

Emma doesn’t run because she remembers the way Regina had lain so close to her throughout the night until they finally fell asleep with their whispered words of confessions and shared feelings no longer hiding in nooks and crannies but freed from their secret places. Nothing is going to fall apart if she doesn’t run away. Nothing will ruin. And nothing is going to make her leave Regina’s bed anytime soon.

 

Beside her, there is movement again. This time, Regina makes another soft sleepy sound while she presses her face into the space between Emma’s neck and shoulder, her lips and nose rubbing into Emma. The heat of Regina’s breath spills across her skin and seeps lower. Emma can feel Regina all the way down to her bones, in her bloodstream the very essence of the woman who melts into her unconsciously, Regina’s warmth something they now share as their bodies attempt to meld together.

 

Emma is powerless against her own desire to be closer and holds Regina around her waist. The feeling of holding Regina in her arms and being held in returned is incomparable to that which she had imagined. Fantasies and daydreams have nothing on the real deal.

 

It is unknown to Emma how much time passes. That which she is aware of is limited to the puffs of breath that heat her neck, the hair that threatens to make her nose itch every time Regina shifts, the soft fabric beneath her hand as she idly rubs her fingers along Regina’s back, and the weight of the leg curled over her hips. She knows nothing more and refuses to spare any of her attention to focus on anything beyond Regina. She has grown so used to fighting her every urge around Regina, so used to having to pull back because she has always been aware of how easily she could get lost in Regina if she allowed herself. But now that she does not have to do that, Emma wants nothing more than to dive into the deep end of Regina and drown.

 

She inches her fingers down to the hem of Regina’s shirt and draws a slow line across the sliver of skin peeking from beneath the camisole. The silky smoothness of Regina’s skin is enticing, inviting, and Emma loves the way it feels to be able to touch her. All night as they lay facing each other in the dark bedroom, Emma had found a reason to have her fingers on some part of Regina’s body. Second to holding Regina’s hand in her own, she thinks running her fingers over Regina’s back is her favorite. It had produced the softest hums every few minutes, and Emma’s heart had jumped with excitement each time. Even now, Regina releases heavier breaths and tiny noises as the pads of Emma’s digits paint invisible nonsensical patterns and shapes onto her skin.

 

Emma pauses when one of Regina’s small hums drags on longer than the previous ones had. The vibration of her pleased sound moves through Emma’s body and creates shivers. It is deep and unquestionably heated, different from the rest not only because of its length but because it was deliberate and not made unconsciously. Emma’s pulse skips and then rushes too quickly when she realizes Regina is no longer asleep, that Regina is waking up in her arms for the first time and has shown absolutely no signs of regret regarding neither the night before or what has already transpired in the short moments she has been awake.

 

Lips that had already been pressed to her skin part and kiss her neck, pouring heat into Emma that swims around her insides and settles low in her belly. She squirms without meaning to and groans, squeezing Regina’s hip with a tight grip. This makes Regina moan and kiss her again, her warm mouth sliding up Emma’s neck and moving towards her ear.

 

“Mornin’,” she drawls sleepily, her voice raspy from disuse, her breath tickling Emma’s skin. She rubs her sleep-warm face against Emma’s, cheek to cheek, and a purr of contentment slips past her lips to whisper across Emma’s ear.

 

Another shiver, and Emma has to bite her lip to stop herself from moaning again. It’s bad enough her toes curl and her body presses into Regina greedily, wanting as much of the other woman as possible. She doesn’t need to sound so terribly desperate. She slides underneath the back of Regina’s shirt and smoothes her hand upward, returning the tremble Regina had given her, grinning with delight as Regina, obviously unashamed of showing how much she enjoys Emma touching her, moans softly.

 

“Morning,” Emma echoes.

 

Regina adjusts in the bed so that she is on her back, rolling off of Emma but not going too far. She yawns behind her hand as her head tumbles back, messy dark hair spread out against the soft pillows as she stretches, body creating an arc, back no longer touching the bed. The sunlight that streams into the room lavishes her skin with its glow, and Emma soaks up every ounce of Regina’s first thing in the morning beauty. She’s radiant and soft and beautifully unguarded. Emma wants to touch her, remind herself once again this isn’t a dream.

 

She slides her hand over the rise of Regina’s belly and watches as Regina slowly lowers back to the bed and it flattens along with her hand. Emma rubs up to the spot below Regina’s breasts and thumbs over her ribs, beats of a steady heart felt below her fingertips. She chances a look at Regina and isn’t surprised to see sleepy eyes watching her while Regina wipes her face with her hands, smiling softly in a way that’s completely new to Emma, sleep soft and loving and all hers. Emma smiles back at her and lays her head down on Regina’s chest to listen to the song of her heart, listen to the life that beats its presence.

 

If possible, Regina’s expression becomes softer as she watches Emma. She inhales a calm breath and exhales it softly, humming contently in her throat. She touches her fingers to Emma’s face and tenderly caresses her cheek before brushing hair back and stroking her head as well. Emma feels adored and warm, and it’s surprising to her how incredible it feels to just be looked at with that smile and touched by gentle hands.

 

“This feels like a dream,” she whispers before she can stop her thoughts from spilling out.

 

The hum that Regina makes vibrates in her chest beneath Emma’s ear. “You are quite dream-worthy,” Regina tells her with a teasing smile in her voice, “I agree.”

 

Her cheeks and chest flush with heat and she shuts her eyes, too aware of the way she blushes to not feel suddenly shy. “That is... No. I mean...”

 

Regina chuckles a little, and Emma thinks this is her favorite of Regina’s laughs, throaty with sleep still clinging to her while they’re in bed together. She rubs the backs of her fingers over Emma’s cheek. “I know what you meant, my dear. Though I must admit, this surpasses most of the dreams I’ve had of you.”

 

Emma can’t help the way her heart flips and her belly dips in response to Regina’s quiet admission. “You dream about me? Really?” Her head lifts and she searches Regina’s face, looks into eyes which are always telling and give away more than Emma can even understand sometimes—more than what she had been willing to see because she hadn’t wanted to chance misreading the signs she was given.

 

Regina looks a little amused—and surprisingly shy as well. “Do you honestly need to ask me that? You sound as though you don’t believe it to be a likely possibility despite everything that has taken place since you arrived last night.”

 

She remembers kisses that felt endless, her own enthusiasm and Regina’s thoroughness leaving her breathless with head rushes and goosebumps over and over again.

 

She remembers the tenderness of Regina’s touch as they made a mess of the bed sheets while rolling around in them, touching and kissing and just holding each other, still clothed but undeniably bare, whispered words against lips and ears and skin, things they had both been keeping to themselves for so long spilling out freely.

 

She remembers the way Regina had reached out and wrapped around Emma while she was sleeping, humming contently even while unconscious, and how she kissed Emma’s neck and pressed in closer once she was awake, making the most satisfied sound Emma had ever heard.

 

Emma feels dizzy and fluttery. She lays her head down on Regina’s chest again and lets out a soft breath, smiling when Regina immediately begins playing with her hair. “You surprise me.” Emma slips her hand down and plays with the hem of Regina’s shirt. “Maybe it makes sense, and I shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve thought about me this way, but...” She gives Regina a slight shrug. “It still surprises me that you do.”

 

Regina hums a long and deep _mmm_ and lets her nails rake over Emma’s scalp. Emma brushes against warm flesh with tiny hairs that are soft against the tips of her fingers. Regina wiggles a little and she rolls upward into the touch, seeking more from Emma.

 

Emma grins, enjoying the way Regina twists and leans into her. “This, however, I completely expected,” she tells Regina as she pushes the woman’s shirt up and reveals her smooth skin to the morning sun. Emma’s hand slides up her middle, fingers spread, palm heavy, wanting to feel as much of Regina as she possibly can.

 

Regina sighs and slides her leg over Emma’s, pressing into her and sending heat shooting through Emma’s veins. “What?” she questions, voice low and still raspy. Emma doesn’t believe it’s merely from sleepiness anymore.

 

Emma traces the outline of Regina’s side, follows the path made from her ribs to the waistband of her pants, fingers swirling and delicate, barely touching skin as she watches the way Regina moves along with her, raising to meet Emma’s touch. She licks her lips and then answers, “This. The way you like to be touched and held and kissed. I've always imagined you would be very affectionate, and very responsive to little things like this.” She skates her fingers over Regina’s hip and hums while the other woman quivers slightly. “I like that I got that right.”

 

Regina releases a soft moan and covers Emma’s hand, glides it up toward her breast. Emma looks up at her then, eyebrow raised. Regina arches and twists. Emma takes the hint and lets her wandering hand continue exploring more of Regina’s body, enraptured, mesmerized as she watches the way Regina sucks her lip into her mouth and moans while Emma squeezes her breast. There is only thin lace between her hand and the small nipple that has already pebbled tightly in response to her touch. Emma doesn’t let the fabric barrier stop her from rubbing her thumb from side to side over the peak of Regina’s breast, capturing the bit of flesh between her fingers, twisting and rolling it.

 

Another moan, and Regina arches into Emma’s hand. Her eyes open and meet Emma’s gaze, dark and beautifully exposed, vulnerable, full of want. But even with that want in her eyes, she brings Emma’s hand away from her chest after a few moments of indulgence. Regina interlaces their fingers and gives Emma’s hand a tight squeeze. Emma smiles at her and presses her mouth to Regina’s skin and kisses her softly.

 

“I like the way you moan,” she admits against Regina’s abdomen, and Regina gifts her the sound of a pleased moan as she strokes her fingers through Emma’s hair.

 

“Is that so? I couldn’t tell. The excitement—the actual _glee_ and pleasure—that fills your eyes when you’re making me moan hasn’t been telling at all.” Regina’s laughter, the quiet chuckle that Emma has decided is her favorite because of how private and intimate it sounds, how she knows it’s going to be just for her when Regina’s sleepy and relaxed while they’re alone, fills the room.

 

Emma smiles broadly and presses another kiss where her lips rest. “I also really love the way you laugh. Could you tell that, too? Hmm? I’ve always been a sucker for a cute laugh, and you have my favorite—multiple favorites, actually.”

 

Regina’s heart rate picks up enough for Emma to hear the change in the beats. “Are you always this sappy in the morning?”

 

Emma can honestly say that she’s not, that she’s never really wanted to be this way with anyone before. But she doesn’t admit that aloud, not because she doesn’t feel comfortable sharing that with Regina, but because she’s not going to let Regina get away with calling her sappy when she woke up this morning to discover Regina is probably the cuddliest human being she’s ever known.

 

“If you’re gonna call me out on being a sap, then I’m calling you out for being a cuddle bug.” Regina glares at Emma, but Emma only laughs and moves her face into the crook of Regina’s neck so she can bury a few kisses there in a soft and warm spot while snuggling into her side. “I love that too, by the way. I am one thousand percent here for snuggly Regina whenever you wanna let her come out to play. She’s soft.”

 

“Soft? I bite, you know—hard—and I scratch as well.” Her tone is defiant, but there’s a hint of amusement in her voice that she fails to get rid of. “Soft is hardly the word I would use to describe myself.”

 

“Too bad. You’re still soft,” Emma says with finality, kissing Regina’s neck once more.

 

Lifting her head, she smiles down at Regina and brings her hand up to brush it across a smooth cheek. Regina with messy hair and sunlight in her eyes is almost too much for Emma to take in this closely, but she has wanted this for so long that she can’t stop herself from admiring every inch of the woman beneath her that she can see from her position.

 

The lightness of the moment just before ends when Regina reaches up with one of her hands and cups Emma’s face as well, thumb trailing along the swell of a cheek. The way Regina looks at her makes Emma’s breath feel like it’s trapped in her throat, unable to be freed; she feels dizzy, and it’s not the first time Regina has made her feel this way, nowhere near it.

 

Emma dampens her lips and leans down, pressing her head against Regina’s. Regina slides her hand into Emma’s hair and pulls her closer so that their lips meet softly. It’s not exactly a kiss, not really, but they stay that way, touching, connected, breathing and nothing more for several heartbeats, long moments, for so long that it feels as though they’re in perfect sync, inhales and exhales matching by the time Regina releases a soft sigh and rolls them over.

 

Emma is surprised when she ends up on her back, but not by the way Regina curls around her, her leg curled over Emma’s hips the same way it had been earlier, her head on Emma’s shoulder, fingers sliding down her arm to slip into her hand. It feels right, like the way every morning should begin. She rubs her hand down Regina’s back and slides her finger beneath the waistband of Regina’s pants just enough to elicit a hum and a shiver, and then moves in the opposite direction to stroke Regina’s back. They sigh in unison. Emma grins.

 

Regina hums and turns her head so that when she exhales, Emma feels it against her neck. She kisses Emma with a slow brush of lips and the warm press of her tongue, teasing the sensitive skin that Emma is realizing Regina seems to favor. She gently sucks and runs her teeth over the same bit of flesh she then pulls into her mouth and moans around. When she releases, she exhales another soft breath against the wet skin and settles.

 

Emma curls her arm tighter around Regina and kisses her head, wrapping Regina up in her arms and holding on tight, prepared to stay in bed with Regina for as long as possible. Sighing, she says, “I love this.”

 

Regina laughs, again, and _god_ does Emma love that sound. She kisses Emma’s shoulder, then lower, lips pressed against Emma’s chest, lingering above Emma’s heartbeat as she squeezes around Emma’s hand.

 

_I love this._

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading xx


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